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Friday, December 23, 2016

Princess Elena Giveaway

I'm a Disney gal, so I am happy to be able to bring you this giveaway.

A note from Heidi: Growing up we all had our favorite Disney princess' but each one of them bring something to the table which is why they are our favorites. Kids everywhere are being introduced to a new Disney Princess Elena of Avalor: Ready to Rule. In this DVD she learns about being a princess who will one day become a queen and rule her kingdom. She’s saved her kingdom from an evil sorceress who was trying to destroy Avalor, but that was the easy part! Elena's journey leads her to understand that her new role requires thoughtfulness, resilience and compassion, the traits of all truly great leaders. It truly is a great movie and one that is very empowering for girls of all ages. Parents and kids everywhere will fall in love with Elena as she makes her way into your hearts.

This DVD is packed with laughs, new characters to cherish, and heart, Elena of Avalor: Ready to Rule is a must-own for the entire family! Includes Four Full Episodes and a FREE Exclusive Projecting Scepter – A Great Holiday Gift! Bring home this charming series on Disney DVD December 6th! Here are some fun Elena of Avalor Activities that you can download to help keep the kids busy!

Season One Guest Voice Cast:Tituss Burgess (TV’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) as Charoca; and George Takei (“Star Trek”) as King Toshi
Creator/Executive Producer: Craig Gerber ("Sofia The First")
Release Date: December 6, 2016Episodes: First Day of Rule
Model Sister
All Heated Up
Island of YouthRatings:TV-Y (US)
Feature Run Time:Approximately 88 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen (Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions)
Audio:Languages: English, French & SpanishSubtitles:English SDH, French & Spanish Get entered for your chance to win this great prize package today!

Giveaway Details Must be 18 years old or older US residents in order to win. Dates will be 12/23/16-1/02/17 (at midnight CST) Winners have 24 hours to claim their prize via email. Disney is responsible for shipment of the prize not the individual blogs helping promote this event. (The Philosopher's Wife is NOT responsible for prize fulfilment or shipment.)

Disclosure: The opinions expressed are my own and may differ from yours. (Your blog name here) is not responsible for prize shipment and didn't receive any compensation for this post. For questions concerning this giveaway or to host your own giveaway please contact heidi@lifewithheidi.com.
Make sure you get entered for your chance to win all of these great giveaways too!

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Christmas is right around the corner! Many of us are still scrambling to complete our shopping lists, running store to store or finalizing our shopping online. Often, with the hustling and bustling this time of year we can lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas or start to feel a bit of the bah humbug creeping in. When this happens, it’s time to stop, and reflect on the true magic of the season, giving back. This doesn’t mean you have to drain your wallet on gifts for other people. Giving back this year can be as simple as decluttering your house and shipping those items to Goodwill. The best part, you can do this for free.

This year Goodwill stores have teamed up with Give Back Box to enable you to reuse your online shipping boxes to donate your unwanted household items (such as gently used clothing, handbags, shoes, etc) to Goodwill at no cost to you.

Here’s how it works:

Give Back Box gives every cardboard box a second life to help people in need. Some of the international partners in support of the Give Back Box are Ann Inc, Asics, Ann Taylor Loft, Overstock, Dockers, Levis, Bon Ton and StyleUpGirl.com. These retailers are leading the way towards finding innovative solutions to widespread social and economic issues. You can see all of the participating retailers at givebackbox.com.

By gathering your unwanted items that are stuffed in the back of your closet, under your bed, in your attic or garage or wherever it is hiding, you can pack it up and ship it to Goodwill to help create jobs. Thanks to the job training programs made possible by donations of clothes and household items, Goodwill helped place more than 312,000 in jobs in the United States and Canada in 2015 — that’s one person finding a job every 23 seconds of every business day. So you’re literally donating your stuff AND helping to create jobs.

Did you know, you can even calculate how much your donation helps your local community by using Goodwill’s donation impact calculator, a feature available within the Goodwill Locator App and at Goodwill.org (click “Explore Our Map” on the homepage to access the calculator). Simply input the items you’re donating to calculate the number of hours of career counseling, on-the-job training, résumé preparation, financial planning classes, and other services you’ve helped provide people facing challenges finding employment.

The yarn is so soft and luscious, you won't want to put it down. The color is gorgeously vibrant. It was an absolute pleasure to crochet with this yarn. I highly recommend it! (It's in my Best Little Yarn Shops Gift Guide.)

Since I love this hat so much I thought that I would share the (free, of course) pattern with you! Please keep in mind that this is an untested pattern. I crocheted this hat and these are my notes. If you notice any mistakes or inaccuracies let me know and I'll fix it!

Puff Stitch

Yarn over, insert hook into next stitch, pull up a loop (3 loops on hook)

YO again, insert hook into same stitch, pull up another loop (5 loops on hook)

YO, insert hook into same stitch, pull up another loop (7 loops on hook).

For the brim portion of the hat go down one hook size. I used an H hook.

Hdc around.

Hdc in the third loop around, join. Repeat until you read the desired length. (I crocheted eight rows of hdc in the third loop.)

When you are working into the third loop you are not using either of loops of the top V; instead, the V will be forced to the outside (the right side, or the side visible when you're wearing the hat). It can take a little bit of practice to find the third loop, but it's there, right under the V normally used.

I hope that you like this free crochet pattern!

I will share this post at various parties around the blogosphere like these.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. I strive for honesty in all things.

I'm always on the lookout for a great deal. Often getting a great deal means using coupons. I've been grocery couponing for about a decade, but did you know that you can get coupon deals for all kinds of non-food items too? Groupon Coupons is a great way to save a little extra money.

The variety of stores participating in Groupon Coupons is impressive. There are even coupons available for Blue Nile. Wouldn't this adorable heart locket make a special Christmas gift? I found this locket in the 20% off Groupon Special section. Just click on the 20% off coupon and you should see it! (Keep in mind that this is a limited time deal.)

I wouldn't mind a beautiful pair of diamond earring, which Blue Nile has quite a few possibilities. Aren't these gorgeous? They would coordinate well with my engagement ring -- platinum with four prongs.

Like I stated above, there is a great diversity in the coupons that are available, Medifast has several coupons listed -- right now there's a really great one at the top of the page. This might be a good thing to keep in mind for New Year's Resolutions.

I recommend checking out Groupon Coupons before making a purchase, you might just save yourself some money.

Speaking of finding good deals, if you're a knitter or a crocheter you will want to check out my Best Little Yarn Shops Gift Guide -- there are some coupon codes in there!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Yarn. It's the literal string of life for many knitters and crocheters. Those who don't knit or crochet might never be able to understand our obsession with it. But those of us who get it are always on the lookout for the next amazing skien. And sometimes those who love us want to contribute, but don't know how. This Yarn Gift Guide is for both the yarn lover and those who love a yarn lover.

These are some of the Best Little Yarn Shops that I've stumbled upon. I've personally used yarns from these shops and absolutely loved them. I will list the shops in alphabetical order. Please click through to my free patterns and reviews to read more about the yarns. Each project includes detailed information about the yarn as well as my personal opinions about the yarn.

I've also tried to include any special sales or coupons that the shops are having during this holiday season, especially for Black Friday and Cyber Monday! (I will do my best to remove expired coupons and sales as well as update with any other pre-Christmas sales!)

Is this an exhaustive list of the Best Little Yarn Shops out there? Of course not! These are simply the best ones that I personally can recommend based upon my experiences with them. I have recieved yarn from each of the above shops at one time or another, but I always strive for honesty in all things so my reviews include my honest opinions.

Shops of Notable Mention

Please, keep in mind that I've not personally worked with the yarn from these shops of notable mention. Some of these shops have sponsored giveaways in the past and the owners were a pleasure to work with; or I trust people who have worked with these shops' yarn and they have loved the yarn. Great business transactions inspire confidence as do recommendations from friends.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

If you were to browse this blog for a couple of minutes you would quickly discover that I enjoy crafting, reading, and Disney (among a myriad other things). I've blogged about what to do at the Disney World Parks . . .

and so much more. So when the opportunity came for me to be a part of this giveaway I simply had to join!

Disney Christmas Giveaway #DisneySanta

Christmas time is coming closer and closer and my friends at Disney and I wanted to offer you a great giveaway to help you celebrate the Christmas Cheer.
This prize package includes all of the following:
Blu-rays:

Jungle Book

Civil War

Snow White

Pete's Dragon

The Good Dinosaur

Star Wars the Force Awakens

Alice Through The Looking Glass

The BFG

Beauty and The Beast

Finding Dory

Zootopia

That's an $275 ARV of just the movies, but we didn't stop there!
Limited Edition Lithographs:

Including the Jungle Book 1 out of only 300 made, the Estimated Retail Value (Conservative estimate) $50-$100 but with only 300 of them, it is pretty close to priceless for me!

That's an Estimated Retail Value of $550 worth of amazing Disney, Marvel and Star Wars Merchandise delivered right to your door, if you are one of the two lucky winners! Enter for your chance to win on the rafflecopter below!!

Good luck! Be sure you come back daily to get additional entries!

a Rafflecopter giveawayGiveaway DetailsMust be 18 years old or older US residents in order to win.Dates will be 12/13/16-12/21/16 (at midnight CST)Winners have 24 hours to claim their prize via email.

Disney is responsible for prize shipment and fulfilment, not the individual blogs helping promote this event including The Philosopher's Wife. Disclosure: The opinions expressed are my own and may differ from yours. The Philosopher's Wife is not responsible for prize shipment and didn't receive any compensation for this post. For questions concerning this giveaway or to host your own giveaway please contact heidi@lifewithheidi.com.

I am very excited about this giveaway. I'm always excited by yarn -- you've probably noticed that by now. Today's giveaway is sponsored by Kimarie's Knit Knacks. This yarn is called Unicorn Fields. It's a gorgeously hand dyed yarn, so each skein will be unique. Below are pictures of the skien that I recieved for my review.

As you can see, the yarn has absolutely lovely colors. My skien was 246 yards of 75% Merino & 25% Nylon hand dyed loveliness. Did you notice that it has sparkles!? I love the sparkles. It can be machine washed, but let's be honest, handmade items really should be washed gently. This yarn is very soft and works up wonderfully.

Did you see the Sterling Unicorn Hat that I crocheted using this yarn? It's one of my newest patterns. (Free, of course!)

Details: Must be 18+ to enter. US only. Void where prohibited. Winner will be randomly chosen using Rafflecopter. Winner will have 48 hour to respond to my email; after 48 hours a new winner will be chosen. The Philosopher's Wife is not responsible for prize fulfilment or shipment. Entries will be verified.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Violet Valentine is generously sponsoring this yarn and stitch marker giveaway.

I am drawn to color. Especially pink. I love the Pinky Swear colorway. The other colorways look awesome too. (But, oh, that pink!)

In additions to all of the gorgeous yarns, The Violet Valentine also sells beautiful stitch markers. Since this is December I just have to share this set of Christmas Stitch Markers with you! Aren't they jolly?

One winner will receive a skein of yarn & a set of stitch markers.

Details: Must be 18+ to enter. US only. Void where prohibited. Winner will be randomly chosen using Rafflecopter. Winner will have 48 hour to respond to my email; after 48 hours a new winner will be chosen. The Philosopher's Wife is not responsible for prize fulfilment or shipment. Entries will be verified.

I also wanted to make sure that you all saw the Best Little Yarn Shops Gift Guide. It might be a good one to share with your friends -- because we could all use a little yarn under our Christmas trees!

Speaking of yarn, did you see December's sponsor, The Violet Valentine, is giving away a skein of yarn and a set of stitch markers to one lucky winner? You can enter the giveaway here.

Given the absolute craziness of the season, and recognizing that not everything we're creating right now can be shared publically, December will have a month long Yarn Fanatic Party. I do hope that you link up something new whenever you can all month long! I will be pulling features randomly and sharing them on social media.

Link up any of your yarn projects!

The only rule is that everything you link to must be family friendly. Actually, I guess there are two rules. The second rule is that your project must include yarn.

I would appreciate it very much if you:

Add a link to the Yarn Fanatic Party to your post or party page.

Follow The Philosopher's Wife.

Check out some of the other yarn goodies people have finished.

Leave comments here, there, and everywhere. (Please, take a moment to visit at least one other blog and leave a comment. I want this to be a supportive community of yarn lovers.)

If you're not a blogger, but want to participate, feel free to upload a picture from Flicker! Or even link a Facebook or Twitter photo. (Just make sure your settings are set to "public" so that we can all see it!)

By linking up you are giving me permission to share your photos here on the blog and via social media, with the appropriate credit, of course!

Please do NOT link directly to a paid pattern. You may link to your blog, Facebook, IG, whatever, which in turn links to the pattern.

Follow by Email

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